A new city ordinance passed Tuesday night will involve the city on petty marijuana cases, instead of bogging down the state’s attorney’s office.

At a city council meeting last night, an ordinance was passed that will allow the city to prosecute cases of possession of 2.5 grams of marijuana or less.

The ordinance states that if a person is caught with 2.5 grams of marijuana or less the case can be handled by the city attorney and the individual will receive a $250 fine.

“Where it’s really important is for future employment,” Mayor Dan Cougill said.

Previously, these cases were sent to the state’s attorney’s office and an individual would be charged with a Class C misdemeanor, which stays on a record forever.

However, the cases would often sit in the state’s attorney’s office because they were such minor offenses.

“Why take it to the state’s attorney’s and ruin somebody’s life?” Cougill said.

The city can now charge an individual for ordinance violation, but, Cougill said, there is still the option to send the case to the state’s attorney for individuals who have had multiple offenses in the past and aren’t getting the message.

“The option is there and if there are multiple offenses (state’s attorney’s) are probably more willing to (try the case),” he said.

Cougill said he expects the new ordinance to help reduce these cases and reduce drug use in general.

“Otherwise what’s the purpose of doing it?” Cougill said. “I look at these things hopefully as a deterent.”

In other issues, the council passed an ordinance to annex five acres of land into the city for Lombardy Holdings, Inc. based in Terre Haute, Ind. The company, Cougill said, is planning to build a strip mall with their land which is located east of the storm water retention pond north of Wal-Mart.

Cougill said he did not know when construction would begin nor did he know what businesses the company planned to put in the strip mall.